Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 35349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35349 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Because I wasn’t alone.
He sat there just watching me. Shadows created by darkness and moonlight surrounded this stranger making him glow ominously, evil even.
We didn’t speak, and I sure as hell didn’t move—not just because I felt like shit but because I was terrified.
Panic and sheer terror filled me because I knew him.
The man I’d seen several times, wondering if he was watching me. He had been following me. And the way he observed me made it seem as if he knew exactly who I was.
He didn’t move, didn’t speak, and just kept staring at me, as if waiting for something.
Fear gripped me like a cold, suffocating weight atop my chest that made it even harder to breathe.
Who are you? I realized I only whispered those words in my head.
I tried to push myself up again, my hands trembling as I forced my body to obey because I’d be damned if I was going to be helpless lying on this bed. But before I could move more than a few inches, he leaned forward, and I froze.
The air seemed to thicken, charged with something dangerous and unsettling. And it all emanated from this man.
“What do you want?” It felt so stupid saying those words given that it was clear he’d brought me here… wherever here was… because I was the thing he wanted. It was for what exactly that I didn’t know.
“I saw you,” he finally replied, his voice low and deep and the scariest thing I’d ever heard.
My eyes felt bigger than my face as his tone sank in. And even though I already knew what he just told me—along with the next two things he said—hearing him speak them out loud sent shock waves through my system.
“I wanted you.”
A shiver traveled throughout my entire body.
“And so I took you.”
The finality in his words and the calm way he said them made my blood run cold.
And as it all really sank in, as reality waved right in my face like a red flag, I understood he’d seen me sometime along my journey, he’d stalked me all over Europe, he’d drugged me, and he had now kidnapped me.
I was trapped, and there was no mistaking the ownership in his tone. He wasn’t letting me go.
9
LARS
Icouldn’t have taken my focus off of Dolly if I tried.
I watched her, my gaze never leaving her face as she tried in vain to fight the effects of the drug to stay awake. She was strong, my little darling, fighting the pull of the sedative that, although still coursing through her veins, would fade soon.
Her nostrils flared as she took in as much oxygen as she could, on the verge of hyperventilating. I wanted to tell her to calm down, that she was safer with me than she’d ever been in her life. But I knew things were very fragile right now, and pushing her—even with mere words—would just make things worse.
Her eyelids fluttered, heavy with exhaustion, and I could see the panic in her gaze as she realized she was losing the battle of staying awake.
I couldn't lie. It was absolutely beautiful to observe the way her expressions and body language showed me she understood she was fucked in this situation, yet she still fought against the inevitable. But we both knew she couldn’t win.
Not against this.
And soon enough, she’d realize there was no use in fighting against the concept of us being together.
Her breathing grew slower, her body sinking deeper into the mattress as her strength faded.
Keep watching me, Dolly. Keep staring at me, little darling.
Dolly tried to keep her gaze locked on mine, but she needed to sleep off the effects of the sedative a while longer. Her eyes finally closed, her body going lax as she succumbed to the drug once again.
I didn't move just yet. I sat there and watched as her chest rose and fell with her easy breath she took. Knowing she was at my mercy right now, unable to control or stop anything, was an addictive feeling.
Finally, I stood and walked toward her. The floorboards creaked under my booted feet as I moved closer to the bed. I stood there for a second, just taking in the sight of her before I was unable to resist and reached out, my hand brushing against her cheek. I trailed a finger down the side of her neck, her skin soft and warm… and so damn addictive.
Her pulse beat steadily beneath my fingertip as I took in the fact that she was so fragile, so perfect.
For me.
I crouched and leaned over her, not stopping myself from inhaling her scent. She was sweet, her familiar fragrance something I’d grown seemingly dependent on to survive over the past few weeks. Her aroma clung to every aspect of her before settling on the sheets. I wanted that scent to bury deep into me, to mark my very cells as hers.